The drama formerly known as Undercover has undergone a title and casting change, but we’re full-steam ahead for its premiere in two weeks. The new Monday-Tuesday drama on cable network JTBC is now called Heartless City, and though the cast isn’t a huge draw for me, the teasers are beautiful and mysterious, and effectively made me stop to check out what this drama’s about.

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Read the rest of Poster and teasers for JTBC’s Heartless City (394 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 53 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cable programs, Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Jae-yoon, Nam Gyuri

It is a good day when army boys are back and signing on to new dramas, so count today as one of ‘em: Jung Kyung-ho (Smile, You) and Jo Han-seon (Invincible) have both been cast in a new JTBC series called Undercover.

While I particularly love both actors in funny, cute projects (Smile, You and Sweet Lie were both winners as far as Jung and Jo were concerned), I suppose I won’t balk to hear that this one is a more serious story, centering around undercover detectives who infiltrate a crime organization for a drug investigation. Especially since it’s been years since either leading man has been on television; three for Jung, but a whopping nine for Jo, whose last drama was the 2004 KBS series April Kiss.

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Read the rest of JTBC’s Undercover sets stage for army comebacks (190 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cable programs, Jo Han-seon, Jung Kyung-ho, Nam Gyuri

KBS’s new Monday-Tuesday show Oohlala Spouses got off to a strong start this week, and is poised to continue leading in the ratings for the immediate future. To help things along, they’re beefing up their lineup—which stars Kim Jung-eun, Shin Hyun-joon, Han Jae-seok, and Han Chae-ah—with an endless string of guest appearances.

Okay, not endless, but certainly long: a new cameo every episode. According to the production, leads Kim Jung-eun and Shin Hyun-joon have quite the extensive network of industry contacts (and with the number of years and projects between them, that’s no surprise), and along with PD Lee Jung-sub, they’ll be doing most of the recruiting.

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Read the rest of Oohlala: The cameo parade (244 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 38 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eugene, Nam Gyuri, Oohlala Spouses

Haeundae Lovers! This dorky, cheesy little drama lifts me way out of the darkness that I’ve been engulfed in the past several months, which is a good thing. In a nutshell, I think that if you approach this drama seriously, you’re not going to enjoy it. If you take it at face value and don’t think to hard, and stare at the pretty all hour, you’ll enjoy it.

Thank goodness Jung Suk Won is easy on the eyes.

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Read the rest of Haeundae Lovers: Episode 2 (3,728 words)

© kaedejun for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 39 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Haeundae Lovers, Jo Yeo-jung, Jung Seok-won, Kang Min-kyung, Kim Kang-woo, Nam Gyuri

A refreshing wave that splashes this summer with cute and hilarity. The show delivers in writing and acting with characters that you’ll laugh and cry with. Never has my mind been so boggled by Kim Kang-woo in a romantic comedy but my heart is lifted with his perfect comedic timing.

So what does bring a smart detective down to Busan anyway? You’ll have to let down your guard to find out.

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Read the rest of Haeundae Lovers: Episode 1 (3,430 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 80 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, first episodes, Haeundae Lovers, Jo Yeo-jung, Jung Seok-won, Kang Min-kyung, Kim Kang-woo, Nam Gyuri

The first teaser video is out for KBS’s upcoming Haeundae Lovers, and while it in no way diminishes my anticipation for what I hope will be a cute romantic comedy, it IS a pretty lame teaser. If only for the reason that it tells us nothing! It could just as well be a beach promo video released by a tourism board, or a Baywatch-esque opening credit sequence.

Where be the quirky setup (cop loses memory and thinks he’s a criminal) and the Kim Kang-woo and Jo Yeo-jung chemistry? ‘Cause I know that chemistry exists. Just not here.

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Read the rest of Haeundae Lovers releases first teaser (166 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 43 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Haeundae Lovers, Jo Yeo-jung, Kim Kang-woo, Nam Gyuri

Casting galore! Here are the latest additions to KBS’s upcoming Haeundae Lovers, the romantic comedy with the outrageous-but-hilarious premise of a prosecutor getting amnesia while on the job and thinking he’s a gangster, then falling for a gangster’s daughter. Whom he somehow sets up house with. Cute, cute.

And who better to play that upright cop than the stoic, serious Kim Kang-woo (Story of a Man) — who, we can only hope, is then divested of his dignity by degrees as he ingratiates himself with the criminal element he came to shut down?

In addition to Kim Kang-woo, also cast are I Need Romance’s Jo Yeo-jung as the heroine and Jung Seok-won as the cold businessman-lawyer-hotel-VP. Now we’re adding former idol-turned-actress Nam Gyuri (49 Days) as the daughter of the Minister of Justice and Kim Kang-woo’s fiancée. Hahaha. That cracks me up and I don’t even know anything about her. It’s a solid (if obvious) premise, and I hope the drama lives up to all the conflicts inherent within, by which I mean The Funny.

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Read the rest of Haeundae Lovers fills out its supporting cast (566 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Haeundae Lovers, Jo Yeo-jung, Kang Min-kyung, Nam Gyuri, Park Gun-il

Awards, awards, awards! Friday, November 25, was the night of the 2011 Blue Dragon Film Awards, and — no surprise — the winners list was dominated by one of the biggest films of the year, sageuk-action-thriller Bow: The Ultimate Weapon. The film is a David and Goliath story of one man (Park Hae-il) taking down the enemy with his exceptional prowess with the bow and won awards for most of its leading stars.

A few other films also nabbed multiple awards, with best picture going to the thriller Bad Deal. (which also won for director and screenplay).

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Read the rest of 2011 Blue Dragon Film Awards (1,639 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 65 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Byun Jung-soo, Go Soo, Gong Yoo, Han Chae-young, Jo Sung-ha, Jung Ryeo-won, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Min-ho, Lee Min-jung, Lee Shi-young, Moon Chae-won, Nam Gyuri, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-il, Ryu Hyun-kyung, Ryu Seung-ryong, Su Ae, Yoo Sun, Yoon Kye-sang

It’s too bad that Hyun Bin was missing from the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards, since he and his drama picked up a bunch of awards. (Alas, there’s that whole mandatory military thing.)

Not only did he grab a Daesang in the TV portion (film Daesang went to Lee Byung-heon for his thriller I Saw the Devil), both his projects won awards as well: Tang Wei for film Late Autumn, who’s pictured above with Ha Ji-won, his co-star in Secret Garden, which won top honors for the drama category. Looks like he’s on a roll, even in absentia. Do the Marines allow celebratory Baeksang parties for their celeb enlistees? Surely he earned a drink or two, at least.

The awards were held on the evening of May 26 in Seoul, and hosted by actors Ryu Shi-won (Style) and Kim Ah-joong (Sign).

WINNERS LIST

FILM SECTION

Daesang: Lee Byung-heon (I Saw the Devil)
Best Picture: Ajusshi (The Man From Nowhere)
Director: Lee Chang-dong (Poetry)
Top Excellence, Actor: Ha Jung-woo (The Yellow Sea)
Top Excellence, Actress: Tang Wei (Late Autumn)
New Actor: Choi Seung-hyun (TOP) (Into the Fire)
New Actress: Shin Hyun-bin (He’s On Duty)
New Director: Kim Young-taek (Hello Ghost)
Screenplay: Yook Sang-hyo (He’s On Duty)
Popularity Award, Actor: Choi Seung-hyun (TOP) (Into the Fire)
Popularity Award, Actress: Park Shin-hye (Cyrano Dating Agency)

TV SECTION (...)
Read the rest of 47th Baeksang Arts Awards (1,697 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 195 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Cha Tae-hyun, Go Hyun-jung, Ha Ji-won, Ha Jung-woo, Han Hyo-joo, Hong Su-ah, Hwang Jung-eum, Hyun Bin, Ji Chang-wook, Jo Ahn, Jo Hyun-jae, Jo Yeo-jung, Jung Bo-seok, Jung Il-woo, Jung Yong-hwa, JYP, Kim Ah-joong, Kim Nam-joo, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Min-jung, Lee Shi-young, Lee Su-geun, Micky Yoochun, Min Hyo-rin, Moon Geun-young, Nam Gyuri, Park Ha-sun, Park Min-young, Park Shin-hye, Ryu Shi-won, Seo Young-hee, Shin Hyun-bin, Song Joong-ki, Suzy, Taecyeon, TOP, Yoo Inna, Yoon Shi-yoon

If I tried to explain this episode in a paragraph, I think I’d spill more tears, and frankly, I don’t know if I have any left. So here it is in a nutshell: It’s FUCKING PERFECT. Gah. Okay, fine, it’s maybe a hair shy of perfect, but damn if it isn’t the most satisfying ending I’ve seen in a long time. It solidifies the assumption that I started this drama with—that the best thing about this show would always be the writing, which elevates everything else, and brings all our characters full circle.

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Read the rest of 49 Days: Episode 20 (Final) (5,531 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 476 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 49 Days, Bae Soo-bin, featured, Jo Hyun-jae, Jung Il-woo, Lee Yo-won, Nam Gyuri, Seo Ji-hye